Alan Titchmarsh issued warning to wife over move that only his mother-in-law understood

Alan Titchmarsh shared a candid recollection on James O'Brien's Full Disclosure podcast about the time he risked it all for his career, admitting that he once gave his wife a serious warning about their future.

The horticultural hero reminisced about the key moment in 1980 when he opted to leave the security of his job, despite having a baby on the way, to chase a freelancing dream: "I decided in 1980 that I'd go freelance," he said, revealing the scale of the gamble at a pivotal time.

Tracing his roots back to his training and teaching days at Kew Gardens, before venturing into journalism, Alan spoke of his dread of becoming too comfortable and the bold decision that followed to quit his steady magazine job to go freelance in the unpredictable world of broadcasting.

Alan didn't sugarcoat the risks involved, recounting how he cautioned his wife Alison: "I warned Alison that my income would probably halve in the first year," taking her through the sobering prospect.

To his own surprise, however, his finances took a positive turn: "But it doubled, totally unexpectedly."

The gardening guru noted his mother-in-law as the sole beacon of encouragement when he decided to cut ties with a steady pay cheque.

He told O'Brien: "The only person that said 'good for you' was my mother-in-law. Everybody else said 'Ooh, are you sure?'" Driven by an inner fire, Alan shared his philosophy, explaining: "I've never been able to do something that wasn't stimulating me."

He admits feeling the same now, having given up his popular chat show to avoid complacency: "I don't think you give of your best if you're just plodding along."

While he continues to pen columns for both the Express and Gardeners' World magazine, he says: "The day I find it impossible to find a current angle on it, I'll stop."

That urge to avoid comfort zones, Alan reveals, is precisely why he thrives on the thrill of live broadcasts. He prides himself on his ability to gracefully wind down interviews, tuning into the producer's countdown even as he converses: "The only time I had to literally put my hand over someone's mouth was with Su Pollard," he quips.

Alan credits a large part of his education in television to observing a once-celebrated, but now-disgraced TV legend, Frank Bough, who was dismissed from the BBC amidst controversies. "I learned so much on Breakfast Time and Nationwide from watching the professional presenters there. Although he's now fallen from grace I learned so much watching Frank Bough.

"He was a consummate broadcaster... I remember watching how he would change cameras the technicalities of presenting, where he looked, how he looked, how he held himself."

Even if not deliberately mimicking Bough, Alan recognises that he has absorbed those early observations, explaining, "I'm using all that stuff that he watched early on".

Alan Titchmarsh's Love Your Weekend airs today on ITV1 at 9.30am.